Definitely the toughest long run since I started the Furman Institute of Running Marathon Plan one month ago – partly due to the heat and high humidity but also the fact I had to run 20 miles. Typically at this stage of a marathon training program (i.e. 12 weeks to go), I wouldn’t be running 20 miles, but the FIRST to the Finish plan calls for 5 x 20 mile runs over a 10 week period. If you’ve been following my progress over the past 4 weeks, you’ll know I started at 13 miles for a long run, increased to 15 and 17 miles over the next 2 weeks before tackling the 20 miler today – quite a big jump in a short period of time.
Anyway, that’s what the plan called for, so that’s what I needed to do. Luckily (if luck is the right word), the required pace for the 20 mile run was the slowest of all the long runs so far – PMP (Planned Marathon Pace) + 45-60 seconds per mile, which equates to a training pace of 7:26 – 7:41 for me based on my current 5k time.
As usual I used my Garmin 305 to keep me in the zone and set off on my run just after 7am in the hope of avoiding the worst of the current weather conditions. I allowed myself a gentle first mile to wake up my legs, but then picked up the pace a little to drop into “the zone”. By mile 5 however, I was running too fast and already at the quicker end of the planned pace. With 15 miles to go I realized this was probably a mistake and backed off a little.
20 miles is a long way to run, especially when you’re trying to stay in the shade and protection of the trails at First Landing State Park. Therefore I decided to run out onto Atlantic Avenue and take a trip down the Virginia Beach Boardwalk – not exactly the best surface to run on (i.e concrete!), but a pleasant change of scenery.
I managed to run all the way to 1st Street before reaching the 10 mile mark and my turnaround point. The breeze that felt so good heading south was now at my back, which made the temperature appear 10 degrees higher. I topped at one of the public water fountains to take a much needed drink, but the water ran hot and wouldn’t/couldn’t run cold. I knew it was going to be a long run back to where I’d parked the car!
When things get tough at this stage in a long training run, I usually resort to playing games with myself to help the miles pass quicker and take my mind off the “pain”. On the boardwalk especially it’s just block after block, hotel after hotel and public bench after public bench. You can choose to look east out onto the Atlantic Ocean, but the view is essentially the same for miles and mile and miles.
At the end of the day it’s just a question of putting one put in front of the other and maintaining the best pace you can. Eventually I reached 64th Street and the relative comfort of the shady trails, but I still had over 5 miles to run and my pace was beginning to slide towards the 7:41 per mile pace. I stopped at a fountain in the park to take a drink (cold water this time) which gave me enough of a boost to pick up the pace. Now it was just a question of counting down the final miles….
The last 40 minutes were pretty tough (who am I kidding? – very tough!), but I know from experience, these training runs are what make you strong when marathon day arrives. Eventually I made it back to the car where my wife was waiting with a cold bottle of water and a smile. With over 70% humidity, I guessed I’d lost about 4 pounds through sweat loss – time to rehydrate and take in some liquid carbohydrates and protein to start the muscles healing process. Hammer Nutrition’s Recoverite always works well for me and I never finish a long run without drinking at least 24 ounces of the magic potion!
So, 4 weeks down, 12 to go and I must admit the program is more challenging that I anticipated. Looking ahead, however, I’m sure all the hard work is going to pay dividends. Week 5 is another tough week so I just hope I’ll be able to recover in time for my 1600m repeats on Tuesday….